August
2004
We
Are All Noah: Exploring Religious Activism
By Marisa Miller
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If you haven’t noticed yet, this country is full
of churches. A lot of them are here in New York City…along with
synagogues, mosques, temples and ashrams. Every week or so, millions
of people who believe in the principles of compassion, justice, and
uplifting the oppressed gather in these beautiful places to worship
in community and to inspire each other to lead a more meaningful life.
Now, I know that when many of us think about religious activists, we
automatically think of the ones who are making our lives hard. But I
assure you, there are millions who are on our side, living out their
liberal convictions every single day in all kinds of ways. The fact
is fellow activists, we are missing out on an opportunity here.
I am living proof that one activist who shows one film one day in church
can create ripples throughout the community. If it weren’t for
Sheila Dines’ screening of the documentary We Are All Noah that
one day after church, I wouldn’t be vegan now and I certainly
wouldn’t be an animal activist. Now I’m that animal activist
who shows Tribe of Heart’s documentaries in churches all over
New York. The church converted me…to veganism, not to Christianity.
And now I’m saved…from the life of an office drone, which
was a kind of hell.
If you actually go into these faith communities, you will find people
who have organized social justice programs on issues ranging from homelessness
to nuclear disarmament. Some operate soup kitchens and after-school
tutoring programs, and some link up with other churches to take on bigger
projects such as building affordable housing. And then there are those
of us who are building interfaith coalitions to organize events to speak
out for our religious values while the political people who are making
our lives hard converge in this city at the end of this month (see www.interfaithvoices.net).
Now think of the specific issues you work on. Maybe it’s not such
a stretch to imagine that you might be able to conduct outreach on your
favorite issue to people of faith. Even if your issue isn’t considered
mainstream, it doesn’t mean that it won’t resonate in religious
communities. I’ve managed to get more than 200 people to come
to the vegan outreach events that I organized at my church. Vegan outreach?
In church? Well, why not? The principles that inspire me to be vegan
are the same principles that drive me to participate in our church’s
anti-death penalty initiative and to speak out against the war in Iraq.
They are all interconnected. When we lift up one oppressed group, we
uplift all of humanity. On some level, people know that, and those who
like to think of themselves as justice-seeking people want to learn
about many different issues and what they can do personally to bend
the earth towards justice.
Which is not to say that you don’t have to get creative when you’re
planning and marketing events on less popular issues. For example, you
can’t advertise vegan outreach events as “Vegan Outreach
Events” unless you only want the other vegan in your synagogue
to come. You have to connect veganism to issues that people in the community
already care about. For example, I organized a vegetarian potluck and
lecture featuring the very knowledgeable, well-spoken and fortunately
buff vegan nutritionist Kevin Grodnitsky, who lectured about how veganism
prevents heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. This June when the Sunday
school kids were raising money for a school in Tanzania, I combined
fundraising with a semi-vegan Father’s Day Pancake Breakfast.
My friend Rhona and I taught the kids how to make vegan and non-vegan
pancakes. I explained to the kids why some people choose to be vegan
and showed them how easy it is to substitute bananas for eggs, Earth
Balance for butter, and soy milk for cow’s milk. Then we charged
each “customer” $5 for one vegan pancake and one non-vegan
pancake. By the end of the day, we had enlightened children, happy daddies,
$200 for the school in Tanzania, and permission to serve all-vegan pancakes
at the next breakfast.
“If you feed them, they will come.” I learned very quickly
that if I have any chance to incorporate food into my outreach, I should.
Fifteen people signed up for the vegetarian cooking classes. Twenty
people attended the interactive “Soul Food” service and
inspired each other to choose foods that make them feel good about how
they impact the world. And finally, 80 people attended the launch of
our new “Films of Conscience” series, where we served vegan
lasagna following a screening of Peaceable Kingdom.
I’ve also found that it helps not to be considered a one-trick
pony. In other words, if animal rights were the only issue I promoted
at church, it would be easier for people to separate animal rights from
human rights in their minds. They might be tempted to label me “an
outsider” instead of looking inward at themselves. I also believe
that when I work for human rights, I’m working for animal rights
and vice-versa. On a more practical level, when I support other people
in their activism, they will be more likely to support me in mine.
I encourage you to broaden your activism to include faith communities.
If you’ve rejected your childhood religion and you don’t
quite know where you belong, find a new religion! One way to test your
compatibility with various religions is to take the Belief-O-Matic multiple
choice test on www.beliefnet.com. If you’ve rejected religion
altogether and don’t want to find one, still take the Belief-O-Matic
test because it’s fun, and try to incorporate faith communities
in your outreach anyway. Consider it an opportunity to challenge your
stereotypes about religious people and, in turn, help them challenge
their stereotypes about activists. It’s when we get out of our
comfort zones and start thinking outside the box that we allow true
change to occur. That’s why it’s called outreach, after
all.
Marisa Miller is Animal Projects Coordinator for the
Global Green Foundation and Co-chair of the Faith in Action Committee
at the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York. She is also
an active member of Unitarian-Universalists for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals, Interfaith Voices, and the Sharon Shapiro Peace Sanctuary.
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